The design and construction of a door latch for a soft-sided vehicle door presents special problems not inherent in a conventional door having rigid outer and inner panels. In a conventional door, the inside latch member is positioned near the front jamb of the door whereas the outside latch member is positioned near the rear jamb of the door. This requires a linkage between the two handles. In a standard door, this linkage mechanism can be provided between the rigid outer steel panel and the inner door panel where it is out of sight and can be easily mounted. In a soft-sided vehicle door, because of the lack of rigidity, the latch mechanism must be confined to the rear jamb area so that both the inside and outside door handles are at this location and mounted on a mounting plate provided for this purpose. A conventional latch mechanism for use in soft-sided vehicle doors is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,954 to Hieronymi et al. which includes a lever mounted on a vertical pivot on the outside of the door a slide latch on the inside of the door. This device is satisfactory for its intended purpose but the inside slide latch mechanism is difficult to reach because it is in the location of the hip of the vehicle occupant. This requires the occupant to either reach back and blindly fumble for the latch or to turn around to an awkward position to reach the latch. If the occupant is confined by a seat belt this procedure is even more difficult.
Additional prior art which provides inside and outside handle means which are opposite each other are:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,072 to Petty, Sr. discloses a vertically pivoted spring bias lever/hook that acts as a latch.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,642,612 to Haarberg discloses a latch with a hook at one end that is spring bias and operates by pushing on the opposite end in a downward motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,468,353 to Weinke discloses a spring bias latch accessible from two sides and pivots.
Although each of these latch mechanisms is satisfactory for its intended purpose, none of them are designed for or are practical for use on a soft-sided vehicle door.